ASPEN, CO.- On Friday, August 5, 2011, the Aspen Art Museum hosted its seventh annual ArtCrush summer benefit, raising an all time best of $1.7 million in support of the museum’s contemporary art programming. ArtCrush honoree and recipient of the AAM’s 2011 Aspen Award for Art Roni Horn was celebrated as guests from New York to LA and beyond witnessed the artist’s Clowd and Cloun (Gray) (2000/2001) auction for a record-breaking $420K —the highest raised by a single work of art in the 7-year history of the ArtCrush benefit. Other results from the evening’s live auction conducted by Sotheby’s Deputy Chairman, Principal Auctioneer and Worldwide Head of Contemporary Art Tobias Meyer, included Rashid Johnson’s Alternator (2011) sold at $52K; Julian Opie’s Christine Swimming (2003) at $42K; Damián Ortega’s Supermodernismo IV (2009) at $63K; James Surls’s Stem Cells 1 (2011) at $35K; AAM’s 2011 Jane and Marc Nathanson Distinguished Artist in Residence Haegue Yang’s Oblique Gymnastic (2010) at $45K; Jim Lambie’s Reflections in Gold (2002) at $30K; David Altmedjd’s Untitled (2011) at $45K; Jason Middlebrook’s You and I and Other Just Like Us (2011) at $30K; Richard Avedon’s Suzy Parker, Evening Dress by Dior, Paris Studio, August 1956 (1981) at $42K; and Gary Simons’s Savage Sisters (2010) at $38K.

The 2011 ArtCrush Live Auction raised a total of $842K, which, along with a host of silent auction lots of fine art and wine—helped set the evening’s record-setting total.

Chaired by veteran ArtCrush Chair and AAM National Council member Amy Phelan, the main Friday night gala marked the culmination of the museum’s annual three day ArtCrush benefit hosting 350 of the world’s most influential art collectors, wine connoisseurs, artists, gallery owners, museum directors, curators, and global business leaders. 2011 event attendees included such notables as internationally renowned cycling legend Lance Armstrong and fashion-world icon Domenico DeSole (See extended highlights of guests below). The ArtCrush gala, “an evening at the ice hotel,” was preceded by associated events WineCrush, a private wine tasting and dinner at the home of John & Amy Phelan guided by master sommeliers; PreviewCrush, a public viewing of donated artworks featured in the ArtCrush live auction on view at Richard Edward’s Baldwin Gallery; and was followed by a sizzling AfterPartyCrush at Aspen’s Syzygy with entertainment by DJ Samantha Ronson.

2011 artist silent auction donations included works by Selena Beaudry, Huma Bhabha, Colby Bird, Miriam Böhm, Andrea Bowers, Kerstin Braetsch, Chris Caccamise, Aldo Chaparro, Gabriel de la Mora, Ellen de Meutter, Marc Dennis, R. Luke DuBois, Mari Eastman, Nathalia Edenmont, Orly Genger, Ori Gersht, Piero Golia, Sara Greenberger Rafferty, Isca Greenfield-Sanders, Jay Heikes, Patrick Jackson, Brad Kahlhamer, Glenn Kaino, Deb Kass, Kim Keever, Jim Lambie, Annie Lapin, Nathan Mabry, Mark Manders, Ryan McGinley, Jean-Luc Moerman, Gabriel de la Mora, Julian Opie, Anthony Pearson, Mai-Thu Perret, Alex Prager, Ugo Rondinone, Michal Rovner, Matt Saunders, Mindy Shapero, Kate Shepherd, Stephen Shore, Gary Simmons, Suzannah Sinclair, Yutaka Sone, Mickalene Thomas, Lane Twitchell, Sara VanDerBeek, Lawrence Weiner, Cathy Wilkes, Dustin Yellin, and Don ZanFagna.

2011 donating galleries to evening auctions included: 303 Gallery, Andrea Rosen Gallery, Andrew Kreps Gallery, Anthony Meier Fine Arts, Bitforms Gallery, Cherry and Martin, CRG Gallery, Cumulus Studio, David Floria Gallery, David Kordansky, Dodge Gallery, Edward Tyler Nahem Fine Art, LLC, Eleven Rivington, Francois Ghebaly Gallery, Gagosian Gallery, Galeria OMR, Galerie LeLong, Galerie Rodolphe Janssen, Gió Marconi, Gladstone Gallery, Greene Naftali Gallery, Harris Lieberman, Hasted Kraeutler Gallery, Hauser & Wirth, Honor Fraser Gallery, Jim Kempner Fine Art, John Berggruen Gallery, kurimanzutto gallery, Larissa Goldston Gallery, Lehmann Maupin, Lisson Gallery, Marc Selwyn Fine Art, Marianne Boesky Gallery, MECKSEPER studio, Metro Pictures, Nicole Klagsbrun, Paul Kasmin Gallery, Perry Rubenstein Gallery, Rachel Uffner Gallery, Ratio 3, Regen Projects, Roberts & Tilton, Sadie Coles HQ, Salon 94, Samson Projects, Shane Campbell Gallery, Team Gallery, The Modern Institute, Wetterling Gallery, Yancey Richardson Gallery, ZanFagna Foundation, and Zeno X Gallery.

In addition to the ArtCrush festivities, AAM Director and Chief Curator Heidi Zuckerman Jacobson officially announced that the museum’s capital campaign to construct a new Shigeru Ban Architects (SBA) designed 30,000 square-foot facility—Ban’s first museum in the U.S.—was nearing its funding goal of $50 million with the new building’s $20 million endowment fund goal newly secured in full. AAM capital campaign funds currently total $45.7 million.

The Aspen Art Museum is a non-collecting institution presenting the newest, most important evolutions in international contemporary art. Our innovative and timely exhibitions, education and public programs, immersive activities, and community happenings actively engage audiences in thought-provoking experiences of art, culture, and society.